Asha’s

Start with the wonderful murg tikka chaat, which sees chicken tikka mixed up with onions, green chilli and coriander in tamarind chutney 13 Reviews

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From Time Out Dubai Eating Out 2007

The first branch of music icon Asha Bhosle’s planned global chain is getting better all the time, although in a city blessed with an abundance of great Indian restaurants, it’s not yet quite at the top of the league. We’ve moaned in the past about the service, which is sometimes confused and occasionally obsequious, but this aspect of the Asha’s dining experience seems to have improved in recent times. And we’re still not huge fans of the Indian fusion dishes – these are very hit-and-miss and you’re better off with more traditional fare. Start with the wonderful murg tikka chaat, which sees chicken tikka mixed up with onions, green chilli and coriander in tamarind chutney. It’s also worth getting one of the tandoori kebabs – the gosht seekh kebab, with lamb, cheese, garlic and ginger, is a tender, creamy and zingy combination.

For mains, the rogan josh is disappointingly ordinary; the lamb is tender but the sauce is very plain, although the machli masala is delicious, with perfectly cooked hammour in onion and tomato gravy. The dal makhni, meanwhile, is a creamy portion of black lentils with tomato.

The desserts at Indian restaurants are often a little ropey, but Asha’s scores highly on this front – try the ginger tiramisu with crushed almonds, a bold Indian twist on an Italian classic. The cocktails, mocktails and lassis are fantastic, and the ambience is also warm and inviting. Prices are high but not unreasonable. It’s good fun dining at Asha’s. The food just needs a little more edge and it’ll be a serious contender.

By Time Out Dubai Staff

• Previous reviews
  • 17 March,2009- reviewed by Time Out Dubai staff
  • 26 March,2008- reviewed by Time Out Dubai Staff
  • 17 May,2006- reviewed by Time Out Dubai
  • 01 April,2004- reviewed by Rob Orchard
  • 01 February,2003- reviewed by Rob Orchard

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Time Out reviews restaurants anonymously and pays for meals. Of course, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or independence of user reviews.

Posted by: Sabah on 14 Nov ' 09 at 10:37

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

The worst Indian food i have ever eaten in Dubai. Tasteless food. Service is bad. It takes ages for the food to arrive. The lights are so dim that one's eyesight wil surely become dim. Top it all super expensive. Sorry Ashaji but yr restaurant is horrible.
Please people dont waste yr money going there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: Mrs Ali on 25 Oct ' 09 at 14:14

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• Best for: Romantic
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

had a great evening yesterday. Read the user reviews and was reluctant to go but i would have missed the gr8 food and lovely ambience. Service sure has changed at Asha's. they are very friendly and the one to one service gave a warm feel to our dinner. For a small group or couple....or and evening with your spouse, gf/bf gr8 place.

Posted by: Shreya Joseph on 10 Oct ' 09 at 09:24

• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

We went to have a dinner for 2 in this restaurant. First time visit and the first impression was best. In this time of recession very rare to see restaurants full but that day night the restaurant was overflowing. it was a week day. we were surprised to see the crowd. on seeing the crowd, we decided to know what is there? We asked for a table but the staff couldnt find one immediately, and kindly asked us to wait in the bar till the time a table is available for us. we waited for about 30 minutes to get our table. the food was amazing and the service was impeccable. though the servers were running busy didnt compromise on anything in major. yes onething we found was the staff seemed to be short but our experience was great in this restaurant.
this could be our favourite restaurant in dubai. though we are yet to decide on one. a must visit indian restaurant in Dubai.

Posted by: Dany on 01 Oct ' 09 at 09:10

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• Best for: Business lunch
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

ASHA'S IS OFF MY LIST!

My friends and I used to be regulars of this initially excellent restaurant, which we dined at at least once a week. Then in late 2007, the new management started developing an "attitude" towards customers. You would call to book a table 10 minutes or 10 days in advance and they would give you the same lame answer like "oh sorry we're full all week but you can come around 11 pm and try your luck"... We then started going there without prior reservation to find out that often more than half the tables were empty and were not even occupied throughout our stay - on the many times they "miraculously" gave us a table after a 10 minute wait. They ofetn ask you if you'd like to wait at the bar, which, if you do, would yield better profits from the drinks they serve than from the food. Yesterday was the time we made the mistake of waiting at the bar and ordering drinks... We were told our wait would be 20-30 minutes because we had no reservation for a table for 3. Fine. As we were sipping on our drinks, a group of 3, who, like us, came in with no reservation and sat next to us at the bar. They order drinks and after 10 minutes, the head waitress comes to the bar, looks at them, then looks at us and decides to give them the next table. At this time we realized this restaurant obviously doesn't need to retain customers and decided we're better off having spending money somewhere else, where you'd get decent service and good food - which both can no longer be found at Asha's. On a side note, the bartender who prepared our drinks simply ignored our repeated order for poppadums but the entertaining part of our 45 minutes was watching one of the cooks through the kitchen window behind the bar licking his fingers while switching his hands between through the different ingredients...

On the brighter side of things, we ended up having a delicious Indian dinner at Zaika in Murooj Rotana. Excellent service, friendly staff, great food, and far better value for money.

Posted by: RAJESH on 08 Sep ' 09 at 20:24

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

You need an experience which will give you nightmares, proceed to Asha's. For the amount that you pay for food which in itself is mind bogling, the service that you get is outrageous. We a group of 10 family members on a very specail occassion with all enthusiasm and craving to visit Asha's landed up there and unbelievably had the worst expeirence of our life. We were seated in such a place which was near the entrance thereby paving the path towards the initial discomfort. There was absolutely no cooling and inspite of our repeated appeal, the support staff etc. preferred taking it into deaf ears. None of them even had the audacity to even comfort us. They didn't even seem to value their customers. Probably customer relationship management has to be taught to them. Overall the service that you get from them is disgraceful. The attendants are unreceptive & hostile. Mentioning about food, it was unsavory, flavorless. As an example even when you get into a simple restaurant, they offer us soaf an item which generally closes up the dine. In this case not only were we offered, but inspite of requesting, the staff around made it feel as it was a big task to get it along. It was a frustrating experience. Conclusively, it is not at all recommended to any one. Please do not venture into it even if you are Richie Rich. It is not at all a value for money.

Posted by: Ramesh on 01 Sep ' 09 at 14:02

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

We a group of 10 family members went to Asha's after prior booking, and were given a table near the main door. it was very hot ... we were asigned a person, but he was also attending to other 3 tables, service was very poor. when told that it is hot ... they did not mind. The waiters did not know how to serve... price of items are very high .... for roti's it costs 12 Dhs each, water 18 Dhs .. plain juice 25 dhs ... and with such a hopeless service, were were really bugged ,... with a bill of 1250 Dhs , with very little items ordered, with no satisfaction, it is a sheer waste of money

Posted by: Ajmal on 31 Jul ' 09 at 09:10

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Nothing great....just over-hyped.....the food was just ok-ok....options are very less...

Posted by: Shweta on 31 May ' 09 at 08:02

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Was very disappointed by Asha's especially since we were taking family who were visiting Dubai there for a special treat. They have very few options for the vegetarians at the table. The service is absolutely pathetic - there are not enough waiters to keep up with the tables on a busy Friday night. After we had finished our meal, we had to wait for an hour for them to get us one birthday cake and the bill. Overpriced and overhyped. WIll not be recommending this to anyone.

Posted by: paula reed on 20 Mar ' 09 at 10:32

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

i felt it is average in all aspects.

Posted by: miruna thoma on 18 Mar ' 09 at 22:34

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Very mediocre in all stature

Posted by: charles edmund on 18 Mar ' 09 at 20:19

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• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

it startd well but now its gone

Posted by: Anil Khurana on 18 Mar ' 09 at 04:01

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• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? Yes

Excellent choice in Non-veg food, Veg could do with more varirty.

Posted by: ramesh on 17 Mar ' 09 at 19:43

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• Best for: Family friendly
• Would you go back to this restaurant? No

Its ok but nothing great bout it,...

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